


Stars

by PinkPandorafrog



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Feels, plotty smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-29
Updated: 2015-06-29
Packaged: 2018-04-06 19:37:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4234125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PinkPandorafrog/pseuds/PinkPandorafrog
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Thor had asked if a friend of his could stay with her for a while, Darcy had been expecting one of his Asgardian buddies. So when there was a knock at her door at around two the next morning, she'd been entirely surprised to see Tony Stark standing there.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stars

When Thor had asked if a friend of his could stay with her for a while, Darcy had been expecting one of his Asgardian buddies. Preferably the tall blond one with the sword, not that there was any reason for that or anything. Right.

So when there was a knock at her door at around two the next morning, she'd been entirely surprised to see Tony Stark standing there. Actual Tony Stark. One of the world's wealthiest, most intelligent men. Her brain had decided that it hadn't had enough sleep to deal, so she just showed him to her guest room, told him where the spare bed linens were, and went the fuck back to bed.

When she woke up the next morning, Tony Stark was still there. In her kitchen. Cooking omelets. And there was fresh coffee waiting for her. The deciding not to deal just sort of stuck.

She figured he'd be there for a few days, but weeks turned into months. School let out for the year. He'd shaved off his face-thing, whatever that was, and he was able to go around the small town without anyone exclaiming over who he was. Probably because no one expected Tony fucking Stark to be staying in the middle of fucking nowhere in Nebraska.

Darcy was used to living with scientists, and Tony was just another shade of scientist. He asked if he could turn her garage- where he'd parked his entirely too-expensive car- into a workshop, and she'd said that was fine. He was in there most of the time. Some days she'd leave for the day and come back and he'd be in the same spot, and she'd make sure he had something to eat and drink before leaving him to it.

His presence was unmistakble, though. Electrical upgrades all over the fucking house, and an actual robot to cut the grass for her. It was more than a little surreal.

There was a heavy weight that seemed to slump his shoulders, a tightness to his eyes that spoke of deep pain. Or guilt. Or both. She knew exactly what the rest of the public had known about the army of killer robots, but she suspected Tony had more involvement than the news was saying he did. She didn't question him, though, he wasn't there to face an inquisition. And he wasn't a bad roommate, all things considered.

She came in from a trip to the store for ice cream after dinner one night, because she'd had a craving, and Tony was in the kitchen, just getting himself a fresh cup of coffee.

He looked over at her as she came through the door, and gestured to the table. “Mail came. There's something from the school.”

“Probably them telling me they want to keep me for another year.” She handed him the dark chocolate and caramel frozen treat she'd brought back for him, then wiped the condensation off on her jean shorts and went over to pick up the indicated envelope from the table. “Hey, has the power bill come yet? I was just thinking about it, and I don't remember paying it, like, at all recently. I'm wondering if they're sending it to the neighbor again.”

He was unwrapping his ice cream, the wrapper crinkling. “I took care of it.” The wrapper went in the garbage at the end of the counter, and he leaned back against countertop by where he'd set down his steaming cup of coffee.

Darcy was trying to wrestle the envelope open one-handed, and it took a second for what he'd said to sink in. She looked up at him, eyes narrowed in suspicion. “What do you mean, _took care of it_?”

“I paid for it.” He was looking down at his frozen dessert, avoiding meeting her eyes, and he took a large bite.

She hesitated for a second, staring up at him. “Why?” she asked eventually.

“You're letting me stay here pretty much rent-free, no questions, no expectations. Seemed like the least I could do.” Tony shrugged, looking up to meet her eyes. “I'm the one who uses the majority of it anyway.”

“Uh huh.” She thought for a second, looking pensively at him. “And my property taxes and water bill?”

“I might have... Taken care of those as well.” He turned away, busying himself with putting away the dishes from the dishwasher, still eating his ice cream.

A cold drip hit Darcy's hand, and she looked down with a start. Her ice cream was starting to melt. “I'm not exactly living on a teacher's salary, you know.” SHIELD had given her a  _lot_ of money to keep her quiet. She'd had no intention of talking anyway, but she was more than happy to take the money.

“I know. It's just... The least I could do.” And there was a note of helpless pleading in his voice, like this was something he felt he had to do.

Shaking her head, she licked the ice cream from her skin. It wasn't worth an argument right now. They could talk about it later. She finished her treat in silence, tossing the empty stick at the garbage can before turning her attention to the envelope in her hands.

“Yup,” she said aloud as she skimmed over the letter. “They want me back as their science teacher again next year.”

“Your degree is in political science.” Tony sounded a little confused, and she looked up to see he had his hands on his hips as he looked down at her. He was finished his dessert as well.

“Yeah.” She shook her head, making a wry face. “I know. I was there.”

“How did that happen?”

“Well...” Darcy got to her feet. “Come up on the roof and I'll tell you?”

“Sure.” He took one last long drink of his coffee, draining it before setting the empty mug on the counter.

She led the way through her little house to the hatch for the attic. There was roof access through the window in the attic, and Tony climbed up first, holding his hand out for the blanket she'd grabbed to spread across the shingles. When she passed it to him, he offered her his hand and helped her out the out the window and up onto the slanted roof.

He spread out the thick blue blanket and then they both settled down on it on their backs, staring up at the sky. There was little enough light pollution that they'd be able to see quite a few stars after the sun finished its descent over the horizon.

“I answered an ad for a high school poli-sci teacher. When I got here, they were in a desperate panic for a middle school science teacher instead. They were all, 'Do you have any scientific experience?' I told them I'd interned for an astrophysicist, and apparently that was good enough. The, uh... The teacher they were supposed to get had a car accident and...” She grimaced, staring up at the purpling sky. “It was a scramble, I felt bad.”

His head was pillowed against his clasped hands, and he turned to look at her. “You must have done well enough for them to hire you on again.”

“Yeah.” She grinned. “I'm good at faking it. With enough enthusiasm, no one can tell you don't know what you're talking about. I don't even think they really looked for someone to replace me, to be perfectly honest. I told them I'd stay on if they needed me, they must have figured that was good enough.”

“Well, I'll give you a hand if you want. I may know a little something about 'science.'”

“I've heard, yeah. Something.” Darcy grinned again, shaking her head. “You sticking around, then?”

“I thought I would. Unless you're getting sick of me.” There was a vulnerability in his tone that she rarely heard, and she turned to look at him. He was staring up at the sky again, eyes narrowed slightly.

“Of course not, but don't you have, like... People? Who miss you?” He was the great Tony Stark, how was it that no one was concerned about him being holed up in small town Nebraska?

“I have no family.” Tony took a deep breath, reaching up to rub his fingers over the center of his chest. “Pepper told me that, well... I can't really blame her, I've been pretty shitty to her over the years. Rhodey's... Busy. Bruce is gone.” He shrugged. “I did... something.” He proceeded to tell her exactly what had happened, how he'd been responsible for Ultron, how even though he tried to help, all he did was hurt.

He lapsed into silence for a second, staring up at the sky like he was looking past it. “If I stay here, that can't happen again.”

Darcy took in a deep breath and let out a long sigh. She shifted over until her head was resting against his upper arm. He started like he wasn't expecting her, then his hand came out from behind his head, curving down to rest against her side. “Tony, you're welcome for however long you want to stay. But I don't think you'll be happy here, long-term. Your mind is... bigger than this place. Jane, she was happy anywhere she could study the stars. You, though... You're an inventor, and my garage is only so big.”

“I can't... Do that again. I  _can't_ . I tried to help, and I just fucked everything up. It was my fault.” He rubbed at his chest again. “Here seems pretty good.”

She rolled onto her stomach, her palm coming up on his chest so that she could rest her chin against the back of her hand as she looked at him. “You're not a bad guy, Tony. Thor talks a lot about what happened in New York. How you basically sacrificed yourself for  _the world_ , and all you wanted after was something to eat. I think...” She shifted, cuddling herself a little closer against him. “I think that maybe you should talk to someone who can deal with trauma. I can ask Erik who he talked to, if you want.”

There was no answer, and she sighed again. “I know you have trouble sleeping, but I could really use a cuddle tonight.”

His head came up and he looked at her, expression unreadable in the moonlight. “I'm not really a peaceful sleeper.”

“Didn't I just say I knew that?” She stood up, balancing herself against the slope of the roof. “You don't have to sleep, just hold me for a while?”

“Yeah, okay.” He sat up, pushing himself to his feet as well. He stooped to pick up the blanket, shaking it out before bundling it up into a ball in his arms.

They made their way back inside. Tony sort of stood off to the side in the hall while Darcy got ready for bed. She brushed her teeth, made sure everything was locked up, stripped down to a tank top and a pair of boy-cut cotton panties.

An eyebrow rose as he took in what she was going to wear to bed. “Then I guess you won't mind if I take this off.” He gestured to his shirt.

“No, please.” She knew he was in shape, she'd seen his arms. She didn't mind  _at all_ . She moved through the house to her bedroom, leaving the light on as she went over and got into bed.

Tony was right behind her, and he turned out the light as he came into the room. She heard the rustle of fabric as he pulled off his shirt. In just a second, the bed shifted as he climbed in beside her. She felt his hand on her hip, pulling her back against him. His arm slipped around her waist as she settled against his chest. “There. Is that better?”

She nodded, smiling to herself in the dark. “Much, thank you.” She closed her eyes and let herself be lulled by the rise and fall of his chest against her back.

 

* * *

 

Darcy startled awake. It was still dark, obviously not morning yet. There was a weight around her waist that tightened a little when she jolted.

“Hey,” came a sleepy voice from behind her, concerned. “It's okay.”

Tony. That's who was behind her. She relaxed a little, taking a deep breath and trying to calm the hammering of her heart. “Sorry, it sounds like you were actually sleeping, too.”

“It's okay. We're okay. You get nightmares too, huh?” His hand lifted from where it was splayed across her stomach, coming up to rub soothingly over her arm.

“Yeah, sometimes.” She took in another deep, shaky breath. “I have a lot of anxiety about Jane traipsing all over the world without me.” 

His forehead pressed against her shoulder for a second. “Believe me, I know all about anxiety.” There was a ruefulness in his voice that was impossible to miss, that had her nestling herself back against him again.

His arm went around her waist again, and she felt him nuzzle into the back of her hair. She wasn't ready get back to sleep, though, so she just lay there in the dark with her eyes closed. This was nice, this was really nice. It had been a while since she'd had anyone to cuddle up with at night, and she was quickly realizing exactly how much she'd missed it.

Tony was nudging his nose through her hair, pushing it aside until she felt him at the nape of her neck, the tip of his nose moving across her skin. He kissed her, his lips warm and soft.

“Mmm,” she breathed. His mouth was sending pleasant tingles down her spine as it worked over her. His hand slipped under the edge of her tank top, skimming up to rest across the bare skin just under her breasts.

Darcy trailed her fingers along his arm, fingernails scratching lightly through the dark hair. When she got to his hand she slipped her fingers between his, resting her palm against the back of it. 

His lips were moving up along the side of her neck with wet, sucking kisses that had her squirming against him. She rolled over and met his mouth with hers, moving his hand up to press it against her breast. His fingers pressed against her, hand tightening a little around the soft flesh.

They kissed for what seemed like an eternity, tongues dancing and dipping together. She lifted her hand from his, running it up along his arm and over his shoulder, then down over his chest. There was a mass of smooth scar tissue in the center of his chest, and she trailed just the tips of her fingers over it before continuing her gentle exploration of his body.

His abs were hard, defined, and she promised herself that she'd get a better look in the morning. For now, she contented herself with tracing the ridges of muscle before slipping her hand back, over his hip to rest on his ass. He was still wearing his jeans, the denim rough under her fingers.

Tony was kneading her breast just a little as his tongue swept into her mouth. Her hand against his ass made him let out a low groan, and he pulled away from the kiss to take a breath.

“You should take those off,” she said, keeping her voice down in deference to the darkness that surrounded them. “Jeans are so uncomfortable to sleep in.”

“That's a good point. But then you should take this off.” He lifted his hand and pulled at the strap of her top from underneath, even as his lips closed over hers again, like he was unable to keep away for too long. His day's worth of stubble scratched a little, but it was worth it, especially when he nibbled at her lower lip, sucking it into his mouth.

Darcy let out a soft moan as she pulled back from him. His hand fell away as she sat up, and she pulled her top off and let it drop over the side of the bed, her panties following closely behind.

She heard him moving around, felt the bed shift under him. She could just make out his shadowy shape in the night lights that managed to sneak past the thick curtains at the window. He settled back against the bed and pulled her down beside him, turning her away to pull her back against his chest again. His skin was warm against his own, his erection almost hot where it pressed against her ass.

His hand slid up from her waist, skimming up over her side under his fingers were brushing over her breast. Tony slipped down and around until he was cupping the weight of it in his hand, and he made a very pleased-sounding noise. “I can't wait to see these in the morning.”

“Mmm, I was just thinking the same thing.” She arched her back, pushing the smooth flesh into his touch.

“Well, I do look really good naked.” He sounded so fucking sure of himself that Darcy couldn't help but laugh. She reached back, her fingers seeking his ribs to dig in and tickle him until he was squirming and chuckling too.

The sudden pinch at her nipple stopped her, though, and she gasped as she fell still against him. “That's not fair, Tony.”

“I love the way you say my name.” His teeth scraped gently over the nape of her neck as he rolled her nipple between finger and thumb. “Say it again.”

“Tony,” came out low and breathy, and he pinched the sensitive peak again, making her gasp and arch against him.

His hand drifted down, sliding back down over her hip and onto her thigh before slipping in to gently hook under her leg and draw it up and back over his own. His fingers slid along the delicate skin of her inner thigh trailing up higher and higher until they brushed over her center. “What are our birth control options?” he asked, stroking over her almost idly.

“I have an IUD.” She was squirming against him, trying to get more direct contact where she wanted it.

“I'm clean, but I'll get a condom if you want.” His tone was neutral, helpful, like he was perfectly willing to be the one to get up and seek out a condom in the dark.

She debated for a second, then shook her head. “I want to come with you inside me.”

“Coincidentally, I want the same thing.” She felt him shifting behind her, lining himself up with where she was already wet and ready, and then he was sliding up into her pussy. It wasn't as deep as another position probably would have been, but it felt  _good_ , especially when his fingers strummed over her clit.

He didn't move inside her, just held himself there as he toyed with the little bead of flesh right above where they were joined together.

“Tony,” Darcy breathed. “Tony, you need to move.” She wanted to feel his cock sliding over the sensitive nerves at the opening of her cunt. She didn't have a whole lot of leverage from where she was, but she did her best to move against him.

“I will. Just let me make you come.” He nipped at her ear as his fingers worked over her, expertly taking her higher and higher until she was clutching at his arm, writhing against him, breathy little moans falling away into the darkness of the room.

She felt poised on the edge of a precipice, and then a minute shift of his hips was enough to push her over. “Oh,” she groaned out, and he started moving inside her as her pussy clenched around him.

Tony was rocking against her, slow, steady movements that drew out her orgasm, left her in a haze of pleasure. His fingers fell away from her clit before it became too much, his arm wrapping around her again.

She reached up behind him, burying her fingers in his thick, dark hair. She turned her head until she could catch his lower lip between hers. It wasn't a kiss, not really.

Time fell away as they moved together in the dark. His fingers came back to her clit, leisurely coaxing another orgasm out of her. This time he came too, his face buried in her hair as he stilled against her. 

She made a little noise as he slipped out of her. She knew she should get up and clean up, but she felt so warm and comfortable. Content, that's how she felt, and she couldn't bring herself to move.

 

**Author's Note:**

> This one was Stars by The XX.


End file.
